Muscle contraction Flashcards
What are skeletal muscles?
A type of muscle that you use to move
What do tendons do?
Attach skeletal muscle to bones
What do ligaments do?
Attach bone to bone
What is an antagonistic pair?
2 muscles that work together to move a bone
What is the agonist?
The muscle that contracts
What is the antagonist?
The muscle that relaxes
What do neurones stimulate muscles to do?
Contract
What are skeletal muscles made from?
Muscle fibres
What are muscle fibres?
Large bundles of cells that make up skeletal muscle
What is the sarcolemma?
The cell membrane of muscle fibres
What are transverse tubules?
Bits of the sarcolemma that fold inwards across the muscle fibre and stick into the sarcoplasm
What do transverse tubules do?
Help to spread electrical impulses throughout the sarcoplasm so they reach all over
What is the sarcoplasmic reticulum?
A network of internal membranes that runes through the sarcoplasm
What does the sarcoplasmic reticulum do?
Stores and releases calcium ions that are needed for muscle contraction
Name 2 features of skeletal muscle
Lots of mitochondria to provide ATP
Multinucleate
What are myofibrils?
Long cylindrical organelles that make up muscle fibres
What do myofibrils do?
Specialised for contraction
What do myofibrils contain?
Bundles of thick and thin myofilaments that move past each other to make muscles contract
What are thick myofilaments made from?
Myosin
What are thin myofilaments made from?
Actin